Pitch Talk: Philadelphia

The Crew returns to MLS play this weekend, and we welcome in Jonathan Tannenwald from philly.com
for this week's edition of "Pitch Talk."

You can follow Tannenwald at @thegoalkeeper and keep up on his blog
here.

Now, onto the questions.

1. How much of a carry-over effect, if any, will last weekend's loss have on this
game?That's the biggest question I have going into this weekend. The Union's two wins so far were
against Colorado and New England, two teams that aren't very good. They were also by 1-0 margins,
which says to me they did the minimum to get those results. They played well at New York, but
couldn't contain Thierry Henry for all 90 minutes, and on offense there wasn't really a spark.

If the Union lose on Saturday, it might be a carry-over effect and it might be that they weren't
actually that good in the first place.

2. Is there anything specific about the Crew that the Philadelphia coaches are taking
notice of?Federico Higuaín, certainly. It's an obvious answer but he's impossible to ignore.

"You have to contain him or you're going to be in for a long day," John Hackworth said in his
weekly press conference on Wednesday. "We feel like our defense has been a strong point this year
and we'll continue to make sure that we try to play with that kind of consistency."

3. Who is one player Crew fans should keep an eye on?If Conor Casey plays, he's the Union's biggest attacking threat. He brings size and power to
the team the likes of which the Union have never had before. He's a threat on set pieces and he
forces defenses to adapt in open play.

4. Do you expect the Union to play much differently on the road?Not really. They've been defense-first all year, at home and away. I don't expect that to
change.

5. When might we see José Kléberson on the field, and when we do what sort of change
could he bring to the Union lineup?I wouldn't expect him this weekend. Hackworth said Wednesday that Kléberson is still getting
settled in Philadelphia and getting adjusted to his teammates.

When (or if) he gets onto the field. I'd like to think he'll help the Union possess the ball
better in midfield. He's not really a creative playmaking type - the best guy on the team for that
is Roger Torres, but he hasn't played since a 10-minute appearance as a sub in the season
opener.

Torres can spark the offense more than anyone else on the team, Casey included. But Hackworth
doesn't play him, and hasn't said much of anything all year about why. My guess is that Hackworth
doesn't want midfielders out there who are offense-only.

Eventually, though, the Union are going to have to score more than one goal in a game if they
want to make the playoffs. They haven't shown a desire to open up their attack, though, and
I'm not convinced they will any time soon.